LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

In Buddhism this is called dependent origination, meaning that what is, is dependent upon something else.  If this is, that comes to be; from the arising of this, that arises; if this is not, that does not come to be; from the stopping of this, that stops, the Majjhima-Nikaya II.32 puts it.

A skillful man asks, for example, “What are the consequences of my actions?  Will it lead to hurt of self, of others, or of both?  What will happen if I stop, or do nothing?”  Dependent origination is like a clock where if one wheel turns, all the wheels turn.   Everything changes with one change, or not.

Interdependence, called ji-ji muge in Buddhism, is a related principle. This is the mutual interpenetration of all things and events, likened to a spider’s web where every dew drop on the web reflects every other dew drop on it.  Existence is all one thing, and reacts as one thing.

To be aware of dependent origination and Ji-ji muge is called mindfulness.  Persons not aware of these principles are either ignorant, termed avidya, or they are ignore-ant; they ignore the  principles.  In either case, the result is suffering.

In the words of the author John B. Noss, “The cause of human misery and evil is ignorance.  Man in general is so darkly ignorant about his own nature that all of his actions have the wrong orientation.  Not moral transgression then, but mental error is the root of human misery and evil.”

The author Edward Rice adds, “The result of ignorance is an endless chain of false illusions in which each succeeding illusion is due to its preceding illusion.”